Google, Intel and Germany’s SAP are among a group of technology giants weighing takeover bids for BlackBerry, the once “Must have” Canadian gadget maker.

The three are said to have already opened talks with BlackBerry, which put itself up for sale last month after losing its crown to Samsung and Apple as the world leader in the business smartphone market. SAP, a software developer, Google, the internet search engine colossus, and Intel, a favoured chip maker, could pick up all or part of BlackBerry, according to reports.

This is despite a tentative agreement that BlackBerry has made worth £2.9bn to sell to Fairfax Financial, an investment company headed by Prem Watsa, the Indian-born businessman who is known as Canada’s Warren Buffett. He is thought to be trying to raise money from other big investors. Prem Watsa, an Indian-born chemical engineer who has become one of Canada’s most successful investors, has assembled billions in backing from the country’s biggest pension funds for a bid. BlackBerry hoisted the “for sale” sign last month.

The phone maker made the move after failing to reverse the heavy losses suffered by investors since the launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007.

BlackBerry’s shares have crashed from C$148 in 2008, to C$11.29 at the end of last week. More than C$70bn (£45bn) has been wiped off its market value, which stood at C$5.9bn last week.

The head of BlackBerry Thorsten Heins could bank a $55.6m (£36m) “golden goodbye” if the beleaguered gadget maker is taken over.

Last week Thorsten Heins, chief executive, raised the “for sale” sign over BlackBerry, the once “Must have” mobile phone maker that has lost its luster. Heins will receive the enormous windfall if the Canadian technology company is acquired and he is axed by its new owners. The total includes salary, bonuses, and long-term stock awards, according to documents filed with the stock exchange. Heins has run BlackBerry, previously named Research in Motion, since January 2012, having joined the company in 2007

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